ADOPTION OF CHILDREN (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

6.17 p.m.

The Minister for Social Affairs (Inche Othman Bin Wok): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The purpose of this Bill is to introduce a number of amendments to the Adoption of Children Act, 1970.

The existing provisions under section 3 of the Act are considered to be too restrictive in that they do not allow the making of an adoption order in certain cases where there are exceptional circumstances meriting a legal adoption.

The amendments to the first and second provisos to subsection (1) of section 3 of the principal Act and the addition of a third proviso is to enable an applicant under 25 years of age or less than 21 years older than the infant (or both) to adopt an infant who is within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity and in other exceptional circumstances. Under the existing law, a parent under 25 years of age cannot adopt his or her own child, particularly where the infant concerned is an illegitimate issue, and the parent subsequently marries and desires to adopt the child jointly with his or her spouse. The same restriction also applies to the adoption of an orphan by an uncle or an aunt who is less than 25 years of age. The proposed amendment to remove the above restriction will not only apply to cases involving illegitimate children but will also apply to cases involving legitimate children, for example, a young widow under the age of 25 years remarries and desires her child by the deceased husband to be recognised not only as her own but also as that of her present spouse, through the process of legal adoption. In all these instances, it is felt that a waiting period may cause humiliation and embarrassment to the parties concerned, particularly where the infant is an illegitimate issue.

The proposed new proviso to subsection (I) of section 3 will enable the Court to allow a person, who is not within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity and less than 21 years older than the infant, to adopt such an infant if exceptional circumstances merit such an adoption, particularly in cases where the infant is a female, and the person debarred from adopting the infant in a joint petition is the female petitioner.

The proposed amendment to subsection (3) of section 3 spells out in detail the various grounds for the dispensation of the natural parents' consent in the interest and welfare of the child to be adopted. The existing provision does not elaborate sufficiently the circumstances where the Court may dispense with the consent of the natural parents. The present provision has sometimes given rise to difficulties in interpretation, and because of the generality of this proviso, the Courts have on occasions been reluctant to dispense with the consent even when the circumstances warranted it.

Moreover, there is at present no provision for dispensation of consent when a parent has persistently ill-treated the infant, or has failed to exercise normal parental duties, or has placed the infant in the care of the Social Welfare Department and has shown little or no interest in the welfare of the infant except perhaps a rare visit once in a long while. Dispensation of consent under such circumstances is considered justifiable - and in the interest of such children, who-would otherwise be deprived of a chance to be adopted by suitable families who can offer them good homes. Many children presently under the care of social welfare homes and other voluntary institutions could have been adopted and brought up in a happier and more secure home atmosphere, if not for the non-availability or wilful withholding of parental consent.

The citizenship status of the adopted infant is not spelt out in the Act. Because of this, many people are under the impression that legal adoption automatically awards citizenship of the adoptive parents to the adopted infant. Amendment to section 6 of the principal Act seeks to clarify the position that adoption does not affect the nationality or citizenship of the adopted infant. This amendment will bring the Act in line with the local citizenship law under which even a natural child of a Singapore citizen parent, born outside the Republic, does not automatically assume-the citizenship of his parents.

The present practice of issuing an extract from the Register of Adopted Children for all adopted infants is unsatisfactory and has caused much embarrassment and unhappiness to both the adoptive parents and the adopted children. Many adoptive parents have found it most difficult to explain to the adopted child why his "birth certificate" is different from his other siblings. The adopted child himself has also suffered countless ridicules from his fellow school-mates on account of his being known as an adopted child, having no natural parents. Mr Speaker, Sir, if you will recollect, this has been the -common subject of complaints of many adopted parents, made in writing to both the Government and the local press. Since section 6 of the Adoption of Children Act has accorded the status of a natural child to the adopted child, it seems, therefore, a logical step to amend the present legislation to provide for registration of adoption and the issue of an ordinary birth certificate to the adopted child, thus enabling his complete integration into the adoptive family.

Clause S of the Bill repeals section 11 of the principal Act and re-enacts a new section which deals fully with the whole process of registration of legal adoption to enable all adopted children to have a birth certificate which is similar in all respects to that of a child who has not been adopted. It also ensures that all adoption records maintained by the Registrar of Births and Deaths are treated as confidential matters, and access to them is only possible under a court order. Unless reference is made to these records, it will not be possible to know from the new form of birth certificate whether or not its holder is an adopted child. The amendment also provides for retrospective issue of such certificates to adopted children upon application made by the adoptive parents when the legislation becomes operative.

This new section 11 relating to the issue of a new birth certificate is modelled on similar legislation which was first introduced in New Zealand in 1915. It is confirmed that, besides New Zealand, the following countries also have similar provisions in regard to registration of adoption and the issue of a new birth certificate to adopted children: Canada, France, Switzerland, Argentina, Bolivia, Denmark, U.S.S.R., and U.S.A.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. -[Inche Othman Bin Wok].

Bill considered in Committee.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

6.27 p.m.

Clause 1 -

The Chairman: The citation year"1971" appearing in page 1, line 4, is to be altered to "1972". This will be done.

Clause 1 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clauses 2 to 4 inclusive ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 5 -

Inche Othman Bin Wok: Sir, I beg to move,

In page 4, after line 25, to insert -

"(j) in the case of adoption by a single adopter, whether the adoptive parent wishes that the words

"adoptive father" or "adoptive mother" as the case may require, appear on the face of any certified copy of the entry of birth of the child issued after the birth has been registered under this section:".

Sir, the reasons for this amendment are as follows:

(1) It is desirable to have a special provision to protect a single adopter from any possible embarrassment which may be caused by the issue of a birth certificate to the adopted child showing only one parent's name when the new form of birth certificate comes into use. Otherwise, a child adopted by a single adopter (particularly a female person) may appear to be illegitimate.

(2) Originally it was intended to give, on the request of the single adopter, a letter showing some essential details of the adoption. However, on further consideration, it was felt that it would be more expedient to make a special provision in the Bill.

Amendment agreed to.

The Chairman: There are consequential amendments to be made,

To re-letter existing paragraphs 0) and (k) as (k) and (I) respectively.

This will be done.

Clause 5, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 6 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 7 -

Inche Othman Bin Wok: Sir, I beg to move,

In page 7, at the end, to add -

"In the case of adoption by a single adopter, whether adopter wishes his or her name to appear as adoptive father or adoptive mother on the child's new birth certificate ".

Sir, my reasons for this amendment are the same as those explained to you when I moved the amendment to clause 5.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 7, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Bill reported with amendments; read a Third time and passed.